How far would you go for a loved one? Limbo doesn’t actually ask that question, but I found myself entertaining the idea while dodging Lord of the Flies wannabes and unreasonably angry monster spiders. Believe it or not, I’m not rambling off-topic.
In a nutshell, Playdead’s new indie masterpiece is a side-scrolling platformer driven by critical thinking and puzzle-solving. Its uniqueness becomes apparent from the moment you enter its grayscale universe.
Everything you need is compacted into three simple commands: move, jump, and action. The only thing simpler is Limbo’s plot, which you won’t actually know unless you take the time to read the game’s one-sentence description on XBLA. Our protagonist is a tenacious young boy, referred to as ‘The Boy,’ who enters Limbo in search of his dear Sister.
Limbo works like any other platformer. Much climbing is involved when navigating environments, in addition to the suspiciously ample supply of crates. Mechanics and basic principles of gameplay are introduced gradually. Bear traps teach the importance of timing early on, and you’ll eventually graduate to weighted blocks, gigantic buzz saws, mind control maggots, and other unmentionably nasty obstacles.
And just when you’ve been lulled into a false sense of complacency and self-satisfaction, gravity manipulation gets thrown into the mix, effectively screwing with in-game physics and your sense of up ‘n’ down. The only constant is timing, the key to any hellish situation you run into – like momentum in Portal.
No clues are ever offered throughout Limbo's entire 24-stage campaign. That number might sound daunting, but the straightforward design means that seasoned gamers can clear each stage in less than 15 minutes. Tougher challenges fall between the more linear sequences and take some time to figure out and execute. Even so, the campaign itself won’t last much more than six or seven hours, and that’s a generous estimate. Completed stages are unlocked in the main menu, which is damn convenient if you’re Achievement hunting.
Despite constant perils, Limbo’s alien landscape of dark forests and industrial ruins possess an almost unexplainable beauty, both calm and unsettling. Visuals borrow heavily from classic noir, the effects created by faded lights throbbing behind layers of gray and black silhouettes, followed by film grain to soften the limited palette. There is absolutely no background music, only eerie ambiance taking the form of forest creatures crying in the distance, flies buzzing over rotting corpses, or a lifeless city groaning with slow decay.
Don’t let the little kid-hero fool you, because Limbo is every bit as dark and gruesome as it sounds. Getting caught in a bear trap or bed of spikes are sure ways of decapitation; buzz saws and rotating cogs turn the Boy into fleshy bits, complete with disembowelment. Seeing his head roll away while spraying blood will probably induce nightmares in anyone who thinks Raving Rabbids humor is totally clean.
Limbo is built on morbid humor partially hidden behind its façade of innocence. Behind the deceptive simplicity is the incredible immersion that catches you by surprise and sucks you right in for hours at a time. Best of all, none of it gets old no matter how many times you go back to replay your favorite stages. The ending, however sudden or brief, couldn’t be more appropriate for a story titled ‘Limbo.’
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